


Burning Fields

by autumnstwilight (sewohayami)



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Psychological Trauma, blink and you'll miss it zelink, inspired by master works, writing experiment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 02:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13777995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sewohayami/pseuds/autumnstwilight
Summary: Traveler, the road is long and weary. Surely you can take the time to listen to an old woman's tale?





	Burning Fields

Well hello there! Are you a traveler? You have the look of a wanderer about you, and that Boko club on your back… I don’t know what it is you’re searching for, but you’re welcome to stay in Hateno for as long as you need. We don’t see many new faces around here. This village is quite remote. It’s why we’ve been able to survive here for so long, with… everything as it is.

Myself? Well, I wasn’t born in Hateno. Actually I’m from Castle Town, originally. When it existed. So I had quite a close up perspective, really, of it all happen. My family was military, both my father and brother were in the Royal Guard. All dead now, of course… Oh, don’t give me that look. It is all long past. I’ve done my grieving, so there’s no need to pity me. Got it?

It has been one hundred years. I suppose they’d be dead either way by now. I’m surprised I’ve made it this long myself. I think I must be the oldest one in Hateno, except maybe for that Sheikah woman. Those folks sure live a long time. Perhaps you should ask them about the Great Calamity. I was just a girl, after all.

The Calamity? Surely you’ve heard of it. We called it the Age of Burning Fields, that time when all hell broke loose, before the Princess went to the castle to save us all. We were lucky, really. So many villages were wiped off the map entirely. I saw them burn.

… I’m sorry, I got a bit lost for a moment there. Would you like a honey candy? Courser honey is a specialty of the Fort Hateno area. Just boil it up in a pot and you’ve got yourself some fine rock candy. That’ll put a spring in your step. Not that a young man like you probably needs it. These old bones, on the other hand…

Now what were we talking about? Ah yes, the Calamity… Well, none of us expected it to come from the castle, that’s for sure. Safest place in Hyrule, we thought, so fortified and guarded. Made it… hard to get out, once everything started. Not many from the inner districts survived. I was, really, so lucky, when you think about it. A guard took me and ran. We were able to join up with some others who were fleeing… made it all the way here to Hateno in the end.

The princess wasn’t in the castle that day. She was off traveling, doing her pilgrimage to the goddess. We all thought it was terrible luck at the time, but now I wonder. If she had been there, she might have been killed before she could do anything, and then we really would have been lost. Well, that’s what I think. I suppose there’s not much point in it now, all the what-ifs. She saved us…

I remember her, you know, she was a lovely girl. I never spoke to her personally, but I saw her give a speech once. She was about six years older than me, and very pretty. My brother was quite taken with her- he would have been about twelve or thirteen at the time, I suppose. A bit awkward. All arms and legs with a smattering of freckles. Anyway. When the princess was finished speaking, she threw some flowers into the crowd and he got into a bit of a squabble with another boy trying to pick one up. Well, he got his flower, took it home cradling it like it was his precious baby.

Oh, we had quite the fight over that, didn’t we? See, he wanted to press the flower and keep it, but I don’t think he knew how. So he put it in one of my books and it got all smushed and left green marks all over the page. Well, I was furious that he’d ruined my book, and he was furious that I’d picked apart his flower trying to get it out of the book and eventually our father had to get involved. We didn’t speak for the rest of the evening. And then, the next morning, he was gone…

He came back. He did come back, a few days later. But he was different, you know, after that. So much quieter, much more serious. And our father had changed too. I feel like… I hardly saw either of them, in those last few years _before._ And I wondered if it was what I had done. Of course, I understand now. It wasn’t me. They were preparing for what was to come. But I was just a child then. There was so much I didn’t understand…

Oh, for goodness sake. Here you are, wanting to hear about the Calamity, and here I am, telling you my life story like a silly old fool! You must forgive me… it’s just… I’ve never really talked about any of this… Life here is peaceful, so no one wants to hear any of Grandma Aryll’s terrible tales. But I remember so much… once I get started on it. About the castle, and the town, and my brother…

Yes, I do remember my brother, when I look at your face…

Nevermind. I can tell I’m boring you. You young people, always in such a rush… The world isn’t going anywhere! Well, this is Hateno. Ahead, you’ll find the Ton Pu Inn. My husband- oh yes, I married that guard from the castle- used to run it when he was alive. Now my great-granddaughter works there. The general store is that way, and if you go a little further, you’ll find our famous dye shop…

Oh, no, no, no… I’m fine, really. It’s just a bit of dust from those awful cedar trees. I hope someone cuts them all down. My eyes get so watery every springtime. I… You shouldn’t worry. I’m tough, you see…

Well! Aren’t you a good sport, for listening to an old woman ramble for so long? Here, take a candy for the road…

**Author's Note:**

> This was a challenge to write, since it’s meant to match the style of the in-game dialogue. The vocabulary and sentence structure of someone speaking is very different to the… more verbose way I usually write, and there’s a balance to be struck between sounding natural and still painting a picture. Also I think it’s my first attempt at writing a mute/non-speaking Link (even though I wrote more of a Link-shaped-hole in this fic than an actual character). Another challenge is that the character who is speaking here has some avoidance/dissociation going on with traumatic memories- and they’re projecting that on to Link. So it’s difficult, and ultimately up to interpretation, when they’re reacting to an expression or gesture from Link, or their own emotions (”oh yes you definitely don’t want to hear about this thing, that coincidentally I really don’t want to talk about”).
> 
> Timey-wimey business: Aryll is approximately 111 years old, 11 during the Calamity, and 6-7 when the book/flower incident happened. Her husband was in his late teens during the Calamity and they didn’t marry until about ten years after that.
> 
> …Long story short, this was meant to make the concept of Link having a sister (from Master Works, along with the idea of him getting the sword at 12-13) less sad but i tHINK I MADE IT WORSE HELP


End file.
